Attachment for beehives



(No Model.) J. HILL.

ATTACHMENT FOR BEEHIVES.

VNO. 555,353. Patented Aug, 4, y1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFEICE.

J OSEPIIUS HILL, OF CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS.

ATTACHMENT FOR BEEHIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,353, dated August 4, 1896.

Application filed February 18, 1896. Serial No. 579,774. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, J osnPnUs HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Carbondale, in the county of Jackson and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Attachments for Beehives, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention is an attachment for beehives, by the use of which a swarm leaving one hive may be directed into another hive and captured; and it consists in certain novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which fully illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of two hives having my attachment applied thereto. Fig.` 2 is a longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section thereof.

The hives A B may be of the usual or any preferred construction. On an extension of the bottom of the lower hive or on the platform in front of the said hive I secure, when the bees are about to swarm, a frame consisting of the standards C, connected at their upper ends by the beams or cross-bars D, as clearly shown. The standards should be placed close against the front end wall of the hive, so as to prevent the escape of the bees between the said end wall and the standards, and between the said standards, at the front sides thereof, I fit the removable perforated plate E, the perforations of which are of such a size as to permit the passage of the working bees, but prevent the passage of the drones and the queen. After the swarm has passed out this perforated plate is removed and a wire-cloth-covered frame substituted. Supported between the upper ends of the standards by springs F is an open rectangular frame G, which is held to the standards and guided in its vertical movement by the bolts or headed studs I-I, secured in the inner sides of the standards and projecting through the vertical slots I in the sides of the frame. This frame should bear against the bottom of the upper hive, and the springs F consequently adapt the frame to accommodate itself to variations in the height of the different hives in connection with which it may be used. On the top of the hive I place a board or platform J, the front end of which projects over the frame G and rests thereon. This projecting end of the platform is constructed with a transverse opening K, in which is secured one or more wire cones L, having open apeXes. On the upper side of the projecting end of said platform J, I erect the standards M, and the space between said standards is covered by a perforated metallic plate N, the perforations of which are of such a size as to prevent the passage of the queen and drones, but permit the passage of the working bees.

The construction and arrangement of the several parts of my attachment being thus made known, it is thought the operation of the same will be readily understood. When the attachment is in position, the working bees can readily pass from the hive and through the perforated plates, but the queen and drones in attempting to follow will nd it impossible to get through the said plates, and in their efforts to escape will pass up through the open apeXes of the wire cones and will be thereby trapped, so that'they will be forced to enter the upper or new hive. The swarm on missing the queen will return and finding her in the upper hive will remain there. The attachment can then be removed and the hives used in the usual manner.

It will be noticed at once that the attachment is cheap and simple and can be used on any hive of ordinary construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

An attachment for beehives consisting of a frame adapted to be placed against the front end of a hive, a yielding rectangular frame mounted in the upper end of the first-mentioned frame, a platform resting on said yielding frame and carrying wire cones, and a perforated cover on said platform covering said cones.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

J OSEPHUS HILL. Witnesses:

J. M. JOHNSON, WV. H. BREWSTER. 

